Imposter stole my identity to lure girls into posing for photoshoots

An award-winning London photographer today told of his “nightmare” battle to stop an imposter who has stolen his identity and is trying to lure young women to fake “photo-shoots.”

Sam Robinson, whose clients include the likes of Nike, Dell, Sony, Vodafone and HTC and, has spoken out to warn women who may have been approached on dating websites by a man pretending to be him.

Married Mr Robinson, 34, first became aware of the imposter last November when a teenage girl emailed him to check whether he was the “Sam Robinson” who had contacted her through the Plenty of Fish dating website saying he would like her to model for a photo-shoot he claimed to be doing for fashion chain Urban Outfitters.

Mr Robinson, pictured with his wife, Sarah, said: “I got an email from a young girl totally out of the blue wanting to check the address for our photo-shoot next weekened. I said I had no idea what she was talking about and that’s when I found out there was someone online claiming to be me. He was telling girls they could be a model and sending them a link to my website to try and prove who he was.”

The commercial photographer and director, who divides his time between his The Shop studio in Islington and New York, contacted police and Plenty of Fish fearing for the safety of any women who agreed to meet the man and for the damage to his own professional reputation.

“My business is built on reputation. I work with models and actors who have to be able to trust my name. To me it seemed illegal as well as immoral. This guy was taking advantage of an established photographer’s reputation to groom young girls online. There’s not a real photographer on this planet who uses dating websites to meet potential models,” said Mr Robinson.

Police told Mr Robinson no crime had been committed and referred him to Action Fraud, a government agency that can take reports of and provide information on fraud and internet crime but has no investigative powers.

After several emails to Plenty of Fish, which is headquartered in Vancouver, Canada, the account belonging to the imposter was suspended.

But now the fake photographer is back doing the same thing.

Mr Robinson was contacted by bank worker Amy Crosswaite, 20, last Tuesday saying a man with the username Samrobin89 had contacted her on Plenty of Fish and tried to arrange a photoshoot.

As well as using Mr Robinson’s name and business details he was now using an image of Kylie Minogue’s ex-boyfriend Spanish model Andres Velencoso for his profile picture.

Miss Crosswaite, from Barnsley in Yorkshire, told the Standard: “He said I was very pretty and could be a model. When I said I couldn’t make it to London he said he would drive up to Barnsley and pay me £300 cash in hand for a photo-shoot. I’d be afraid for any girls who meet him.”

Mr Robinson reported the imposter to the Metropolitan Police again and, despite initially passing him on to Action Fraud, officers have finally agreed to investigate.

He said: “I don’t know what else I can do. Who knows how many women he’s approached? I need to protect my name, but my main concern is preventing young women putting themselves in a vulnerable position.”

An Action Fraud spokeswoman said identity theft is only usually considered a crime if an individual’s details are used to commit fraud.

Plenty of Fish failed to respond to repeated requests for a comment.

A Scotland Yard spokesman said women contacted by the imposter should contact their local police force or call Crimestoppers on 0800 555111.